Reunited 2: Flooded with Memories and Fear
by Ember Joy
Summary: The CDC is gone, the group is less, and they have more questions than answers. Stuck on the highway, a herd of walkers separates the group. A freak accident and some crazy epidemics happen. With the owner of the farm trying to kick them out, kids going missing, and hundreds of walkers; everyone has to be on their toes. Especially when Daryl realizes who Annabeth and her kid's are.
1. Introduction

The CDC is gone, people they cared about have died, Annabeth's secret is out, and they are left with more questions with answers.

The world is till gone to shit, and it's just getting worst by the second.

With no safe place to call home, they started making their way out of Atlanta and move on their way to Fort Benning.

They drive and drive, only to find a cluster of cars on the highway cause them to stop.

Searching for supplies, a herd of walkers splits the group up, leaving some people heartbroken.

And a single boom and almost fatal accident forces them to a farm.

They meet Hershel Green and his family, who offer to help.

But the trouble is never far behind...

From kids going missing, the owner of the farm trying to get them out, and hundreds of walkers in herds.

They have to stay on their toes, have their guards up, weapons at the ready, and everyone must try and stay alive.

Especially with Daryl remembering who Annabeth is, and realizes who her children are.

 **I will try to update as much as I can, and I will try to follow the plot as best as I can.**

 **Please leave me some reviews, and I will try to**


	2. Chapter 1

Annabeth was feeling better. And the questions started to come. "What are you?" Shane asked. She just chuckled. "I'm a magical creature called a witch. I have magic powers and I just saved your life." He rolled her eyes. "You're a real witch?" Sophia asked and the older woman nodded. She opened her palm and suddenly, a pink heart formed in her hand before it turned to glass. Sophia smiled lightly before taking the hand. "I used too much power when I opened the door. I just used too much and passed out." She kissed her childrens head. "We need to talk about Fort Benning…" She said, slowly standing up.

"I was thinking we should cut back the cars, collect the gas and plan our route." They all nodded and agreed. The group abandons some of the vehicles, bringing just the RV, Carol Peletier's Cherokee, and Daryl Dixon's motorcycle. Annabeth also had her truck to carry her children's RV's. With Carol, her daughter Sophia, and Carl in the backseat of the Cherokee, the drive brings back fond memories for Lori and Rick of a trip to the Grand Canyon when Carl was a baby. They never made it, Lori explains, since Carl got sick, so they turned around and drove home. "I never knew a baby could throw up so much," Rick states with a laugh. Carl and Sophia ask to be taken to see the Grand Canyon one day.

* * *

Dale Horvath drives the RV while Glenn studies a road map. Andrea watches curiously as Shane takes apart his gun to clean it with ease. As he begins to show Andrea how to clean her own gun, she explains that it was a gift from her father before she and Amy took off on their road trip, so that they could protect themselves. "Smart man," Shane muses, as Dale cusses from the front seat.

The convoy has come upon a traffic problem with hundreds of abandoned vehicles, filled with rotting corpses, blocking the roads. On his brother's motorcycle, Daryl leads them through a snaked out path that was likely carved through by other survivors. Glenn nervously points out a highway overpass a few miles back, but Dale dismisses it. "We can't spare the fuel," he tells him. The group nervously crawls through the wreckage, with no way to know what sort of dangers lurk within. The situation worsens when the RV's radiator hose breaks down again. This forces the group to stop altogether - their cars are trapped.

* * *

Annabeth came out with her kids, still walking with a limp. She saw the radiator hose was now officially dead. "Sorry it couldn't last longer… I told you it was old." Annabeth said. Dale just shrugged it off. Everyone separated to gather items from the cars. "Hey, I have another question about your powers…" Andrea said. The black haired girl looked back at the blonde. "Could you bring someone back from the dead?" Annabeth didn't take a second to think about it. All she did was nod. "You could have brought Jim back? You could have brought AMY BACK?!" She yelled, about to strangle her. "Did you want Jim and Amy to suffer?"

Andrea was in shock. "If I brought her back like that, she would have to feel the pain of being bit over and over, every day until death finally takes her… That is if she didn't kill herself before. That's why I didn't bring back Amy…" She grabbed the stuff with everyone looking at her. "I know this… because I brought back someone I cared about who was dying… She killed herself a month later…" She pushed by Andrea and brought the collected items into her RV. She sighed and put the stuff in the pantry when the door opened. She turned around to see Daryl was at the door. "Is that true? That someone you loved killed themselves?" She nodded.

"It was my mother…" He was in shock. "She was dying of cancer. When she died… I couldn't cope… I used all my power and brought her back. I was young at the time and I passed out for a week. When I woke up, I spent as much time as I could with her… She killed herself three weeks later. I was able to say goodbye to her one last time." Annabeth shed a tear. "I made a promise never to hurt someone like that. Never pull them back from heaven…" She smiled. "I could heal someone before death. Let them live longer. But walkers… I can never heal." She finished putting the stuff away when she felt something. "I feel something. A bad something… And it's huge."

She ran outside to see a large herd of walkers coming there way. "Oh fuck!" She said, climbing to find a place to run and hide. Daryl hid under a truck before the could come bye. Dale lies flat on the roof of the RV as a mass collection of walkers passes through the wreckage. Shane spots the horde and grabs Glenn, throwing them both beneath a nearby truck. Andrea, unbeknownst of the horde of walkers passing through, is in the RV trying but failing to put the gun back together. She finally sees the movement of walkers outside the RV. Stunned by the walkers outside the window, she cowers to the floor.

As T-Dog is running to hide from the walkers, he cuts his arm on a broken car frame. An artery breaks, and his arm starts spilling huge amounts of blood, rendering him almost completely helpless. Annabeth sees this and looks around, seeing a puddle of water. Walkers notice and approach him. He runs behind a car, but more are coming for him. Underneath a car further up the highway, Rick is calmly keeping Carl, Sophia, Lori, and Carol in his sights as the herd passes. Andrea grabs the pieces of Shane's gun and scrambles into the bathroom of the RV when a stray walker wanders through the open RV door. She sits silently trying to assemble the gun while the walker tries to follow her scent but comes up empty. He turns back and is about to exit the RV when a piece of the gun falls in the bathroom to the floor making a loud clanging noise.

The noise alerts the walker to where she is. Andrea presses her feet to the door while the walker continues to press in violently. She screams, and Dale looks through the screened sunroof. She glares at him - this was exactly the sort of end she was hoping to avoid at the CDC - and he grabs a screwdriver from his pocket. He slices open the screen and throws the weapon down to her. The walker charges at her inside the bathroom, and she leans forward, pushing the walker to the wall and stabbing the walker repeatedly through the eye with the screwdriver until it stops moving. She sobs, covered in the walker's blood, catching her breath. T-Dog is losing blood fast - his entire shirt, white just minutes earlier, is now a deep shade of red. As walkers descend on him, and Annabeth got his attention.

"Cloak!" She said to the air, T-Dog turning invisible. He was in shock as she absorbed the puddle, her energy not going away. The group is almost safe when a few stragglers find Sophia hiding underneath the car. Scared, she flees down a ditch to the nearby woods. Michael sees her first and starts to run after her. Rick sees the kids run and follows them. Carol cries out for her daughter, and Lori grabs her and covers her mouth to keep her from running after them into the woods or attracting more walkers. Annabeth ran into the woods, following after the children. Her body turned into blue and white orbs before disappearing. "So cool." Dale sai as he went to comfort Carol.

* * *

Annabeth managed to catch up to Rick, who was in shock to see her. "Talk later. Find kids now!" They ran to see the kids had run off. Chased by two walkers, Sophia stumbles, but Rick gets to her before they do. "Shoot them!" Sophia cries, and Michael comforts her. She tries grabbing for Rick's gun. He refuses as he doesn't want to risk shooting them and drawing even more walkers into the woods.

Instead, he grabs the and takes him under a creek bed. He tells her he's going to draw the walkers away. "If I don't come back, run back to the highway. Keep the sun on your left shoulders," he tells her before chasing after the walkers. Using a rock, he's able to kill the walkers, hand-to-hand one at a time. When he returns to the creek bed, Sophia and Michael have vanished. "Son of a bitch!" She said under her breath. She looked around and to try and find the kids.

* * *

Glenn, Daryl, and Shane came back with Dixie. Shane wonders if Sophia and Michael really understood Rick's direction. "She understood me fine," Rick responds firmly. Annabeth growled at him. "My son has been through worst. He cares about Sophia. He will do anything to protect her. She stated and Shane offers an assured, "We're gonna find them. She's gonna be tuckered out hiding in the bush somewhere." Daryl leads them on Michael Sophia's trail. He states that she was headed back to the highway just fine before she veered off in another direction. "The tracks turn into set." Annabeth placed her hand on the track. Her mind flashed back to the sight

 _Michael and Sophia_ leaving _the log. As they walked, they saw something or someone that spooked them. She heard her son say 'I'm sorry mom… to protect her… I'm zoning out…" Suddenly, he walked off, everything went black._

"Son of me!" She said. Everyone looked at her. "My son… They saw something… or someone… He picked her up… the zoned out…" She said, groaning. "Zoned out?" Shane asked. "My kids have powers too. They zone out whenever they want to not be find. By walkers, humans… and me… But he said that he would keep her safe. And that means something to my family. We would do anything… To protect the woman." She said as she petted her daughter. "They left tracks for you guys to find. But I can't help any more than a human." She said. "Mom! I want Michael." Annabeth hugged her child. She comfort her. "My darling. Let's go take care of our younger siblings. Please find Sophia. And my son." She said and walked away from the group.

* * *

Back on the Highway:

Shane and Glenn return to the traffic snarl to try to keep peace in the group and occupy them with jobs at the abandoned vehicles. Getting the road cleared means they can turn the RV around once it's repaired, and double back to the bypass Glenn flagged on the map, they explain, to get around the snarl now that they had fuel.

"Why are we just standing here?" Annabeth walked over to the scared woman. "Carol? Listen to me. Your kid and my kid are safe so far. My son is protecting your daughter as best he can. And I know she will be OK. I know because my son is with her."

She gave a reassuring smile to her as Carol nodded. "And Daryl is hunting her. He is the best hunter I know." The white haired woman nodded. "Can you look after my kids with me? I need to search the cars." She nodded lightly as the witch walked up the aisle. She looked up to her children before collecting what she can. Annabeth felt like she was receiving dirty glares, and she knew they were from Andrea but she just decided to ignore it.

She was able to bring back a lot of food, water, supplies. "Wow! Nice job Annabeth!" Carol said, only to hear a scoff from the blonde, angry woman. The sun was setting when Daryl and Rick came back to the highway. When Annabeth saw the redneck, she hid inside her RV, Daryl had a confused look on her face as he explained everything that happened with a walker.

* * *

Annabeth was making dinner for her kid and maybe some other people. "Dixie. Can you tell them I'm making chicken breast for dinner?" She said and the lonely twin nodded. She walked out of the RV and yelled out 'Mommy made dinner.' and with that, her kids came in, along with Carol, Lori, and Carl. "I knew you guys would want some." She smiled and gave her kids the food, then handed everyone a plate.

She smiled as she dug in, watching everyone enjoy themselves. "Tomorrow we can all get together, gather a group and try to find Sophia. And my son. But with Michael, your daughter will be safe. I know it." Carol nodded and smiled. "For now. Let's get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow." After everyone finished, they put the dishes in the sink. She walked her kids into the the RV's for her kids.

"We'll find your brother soon. I know he will be OK." Dixie nodded. "When are you gonna tell Daryl he's my daddy?" She asked and Annabeth sighed. "As soon as he recognizes me… or until I snap." She kissed her daughter on the head and left the RV, locking the door as Dixie also locked it from the inside as well. Annabeth sighed and looked out to the forest. "Michael. Contact me. Please…"

She sighed and shed a tear, only to hear a voice. "Are you ok?" She turned around to see Daryl was there. "You know… For some reason, I feel close to that kid." She shed another tear. "You should… He is… Your son." He looked at her confused as she turned to leave. "If I were you, I would sleep in my RV tonight. Carol is gonna be crying all night. "I have pull out bed…" She entered the RV only to have him follow her inside the RV. "I need some explanation to that comment you made." She looked back at him, and took a deep breath and knew she had to explain


	3. Chapter 2

She watched as he stared at her, demanding. "I want answers. Why do ya avoid me, ignore me, get angry as the slightest things I say? And what do ya mean Michael's my son?" She shed a tear. "You really don't remember me?" He looks at her so confused. "The day we met, you thought I was just a dead body." His mind flashed back to first meeting Raven all those years ago. "I tricked you into thinking I was just in your dream, then met you at school a few days later?" He was remembering everything. "Years later we started dating, I gave you my first time. Then I left at 17." His mind flashed back to when that all happened. He was just in shock. I was still looking for you… all these years. And you don't recognize me? You know how cruel that is?." She looked away and locked the door, pulling down a protective layer before closing the window s and locking them. She walked into her room and closed the door, locking it as Daryl sat on the couch, thinking about everything she had just said.

The Next Morning: .

It was finally morning when everyone had gotten up to chose the groups. "Dale, T-Dog. I think you should stay back and help Dixie take care of the kids." They nodded and the little girl went to take care of her younger siblings, Daryl watched her walk away and his mind flashed back to a week before Raven was taken away from him. ~~~~"Hey. I have a question that I have been wondering about." Daryl peeked over to her as he took a sip of his coke. "If you ever had kids, what would you name them?" This caused him to spit out his drink. "What brought that up?" He coughed. "I don't know. Just thinking about it." She shrugged. "Well… Um… If it's a girl… Dixie." Raven started to laugh. "Dixie Dixon. Priceless. I love it! What about a boy?" She asked. "... Michael." She smiled and nodded. "What about you?" He asked lightly. "If it's a girl… Tara. A boy; Aaron." ~~~~

He then looked back to the sextupletes. "Are they mine too?" She looked at Daryl staring at the kids. Shane was talking to Andrea about guns and using then, but this made Annabeth annoyed. "Look blondie. The longer we argue, the longer our kids are out there. So shut up, suck it up, and take a weapon nicely." She grabbed a hammer and handed it to her, and she took it without arguing. The group then left and descended into the woods, not looking back. Annabeth couldn't even look at Daryl, her heart beating fast, she could still feel his gaze on the back of her head. "Are you feeling anything Annabeth?" Carol asked. "Something. I don't know." Carol nodded as they walked to an old tent. Rick and Daryl went to check it out, only to have the stench of rotting flesh fill Annabeth's nostrils. She covered her mouth when Daryl came out saying "Not them! Some other dude who 'opted out' of this." Suddenly; Annabeth hunched over and threw up, coughing out all that was in her throat. "Are you ok?" Carol asked, holding her shoulder and her hair. "The stench of death… Rotting corpse… I-" She hurled again, it hitting the floor. "Can we go? Before I throw up an organ?" She puked again and Carol brought her away from the tent. "I swear to god. That's just Neasty." She said, Daryl looking over her her confused. "Wha?" "Neasty! Like gross, bad." She couched. "That's Nasty." Annabeth looked up. "That's what I said. Neasty." A back and forth conversation happened as the group moved. She washed the taste out of her mouth, until the sound

Back on the Highway:

Dale was working on the RV, seeing if the transmission needs anymore work. Dixie and T-Dog were playing with the kids, keeping them in check. "Are you worried about your brother?" Dixie shook her head. "I trust him. He has a crush on Sophia and I know that he will protect her at all cost. Plus, he is growing his powers. So am I. He's got her." She gave little Tara a hug and kissed her head lightly. "What is your mom's problem with Daryl?" He asked. "He's my daddy." Dale dropped the tools and looked at Dixie. Confused. "WHAT?!" They asked.

At the Church:

Carol was inside with Lori, Glenn was tearing apart the timer bells, Annabeth was meditating in the field; trying to locate her son and Sophia. "Hey Annabeth?" She looked to see Daryl was standing over her. "Did ya see 'em?" She nodded. "I want to know about my kids?" He said and she took up. "They already know who you are… But they won't talk to you… Unless we are at peace." She said. He looked at her confused when she sighed. "You can talk to them. They will not call you daddy yet. I'm gonna tell Carol." She walked away from him and his heart actually ached. His mind kept flashing back to when they were kids, how they were having the best time until she was taken away.

"I can sense them. They're good, no one bitten. But I don't see where they are. The only thing I see… is a farm house. Somewhere." She said, and Carol held Annabeth. "I think we should split up. Some go with Daryl to find Sophia and Michael, and the others can do that way, finding the kids." She said, looking at everyone. "I don't know…" After a few minutes, they finally decided to split up; Annabeth making a joke about getting shot, and her blood type being A+, like her kids as well.. Carl, Rick, Shane and Annabeth were a group and everyone else went back. "See you later." The witch said, looking at Daryl before they split up. She sighed as they went their separate ways. A good half hour later, they hear footsteps coming from an unknown direction. They come upon a buck stopped in a clearing. Shane raises his gun to shoot it, but Rick holds him back as a curious Carl slowly moves closer to the buck. Smiling, he turns back to Rick and Shane, who watch peacefully, as the deer stands tall, staring back at Carl. They don't move. Shane grins. Rick has his moment. "CARL LOOK OUT!" Suddenly, a gunshot, and as the deer falls, Annabeth blocks Carl, the pullet going in the side of her chest. Carl is shot in the arm and the witch falls to the ground unconscious. "No no no no!" Carl looked over and screamed out "ANNABETH! ANNABETH!" They looked up to see an overweight man gasping, holding onto a shotgun.


	4. Chapter 3

Rick is running across the field, carrying Annabeth as Carl was running next to them, holding his arm. Shane follows behind with an overweight hunter, who's struggling to keep up. The man shot Annabeth, and Shane is abusing him for it, constantly swearing at him. "How far?" Rick yells, turning back around for only a second, and the hunter breathlessly sends him ahead. "Ask for Hershel. Tell him Otis sent you." Rick crosses a tree line and a farmhouse is visible; he quickens his desperate pace. A young woman with a brunette bob sees him running across the field through a pair of binoculars. "DAD!" she shouts from the front porch. Rick stops when he reaches the front steps of the farmhouse, staring up at an old man surrounded by his family and begging, "Are you Hershel?" He explains that Hershel's man, Otis, shot the girl and his son, and Hershel immediately enlists the help of his daughter, Maggie, and another woman, Patricia, to help save the bleeding witch. Otis and Shane finally arrive at the farmhouse, and Otis is beside himself with guilt while Shane rushes to comfort his stunned best friend, soaked in the girl's blood.

Back inside the house, Hershel Greene demands to know what happened. "I was tracking' a buck," Otis sputters, seeking comfort in Patricia. "I didn't see him until he was on the ground." Hershel asks Annabeth's blood type and Rick says, "A-positive. Same as mine." "And mine!" Carl said as Patricia was tending his wouldn. But Hershel looks no less relieved when he replies, "That's fortunate. Don't wander far. I'm gonna need you." Hershel determines that the bullet broke into pieces in her abdomen and he would likely need to operate to get all of the pieces out. The dire reality of the situation causes Rick to come out of his trance and remember his wife, and he sobs into Shane's shoulder because she doesn't even know that her son's been shot, or Annabeth.

Meanwhile, as they trudge back to the highway, the others have heard the gunshot in the woods, and no one's more concerned than Lori. "Why was it just one gunshot?" she asks, knowing Rick and Shane wouldn't waste a bullet to take down a single walker. Carol Peletier agrees that Rick and Shane should have caught up to the group by now, but Daryl Dixon, brandishing his crossbow, calms them down. Andrea offers support to Carol over her daughter Sophia's disappearance, and Carol admits she just keep thinking she doesn't want her daughter to end up like Amy. "It's the not knowin' that's killin' me," she sobs. She immediately backpedals, apologizing to Andrea about mentioning Amy, but Andrea's already lost, missing her sister all over again. She smiles through it - if she's not strong, she knows she'll never get her gun back, and Daryl steps in. "It's a waste of time, all this hopin' and prayin'. he states. "We're gonna find that little girl; she's gonna be just fine." They continue to walk back towards the highway.

Back at the traffic snarl on the highway, Dale and T-Dog are trying to salvage what they can to survive when Dale asks T-Dog how he's feeling with the cut on his arm, now covered with a gauze bandage and some gaffer tape. T-Dog dodges the question, and Dale presses him. Lifting T-Dog's makeshift bandage, Dale notices that he's developing a blood infection. Lightheaded, T-Dog laughs off the old man. "Wouldn't that be the way. World's gone to hell. Dead people risen up to eat the living, and ole Theodore Douglas gets done in by a cut on his arm?" Dale insists that they need to start looking for antibiotics, stunned they've yet to find any with all the cars they have looked through. Tired, T-Dog grudgingly joins in, finding a pack of cigarettes in the glove compartment of a minivan. His eye catches something in the backseat - a blood-covered, empty baby's car seat. Unnerved and with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, he backs away from the vehicle.

At the farm, Rick blames himself for what happened to Annabeth as Hershel works to save the girl's life. "I should have sent her with Lori. Little kids goes missing - you look for em," Rick says, clearly understanding that it was the search for Sophia and Michael and saying he could join him and Shane that led to her being shot. But Shane stands behind him, telling him not to blame himself for everything that happened. "You'll never get that monkey off your back.". He assures Rick that Annabeth will survive getting shot, just like he did.

Maggie calls Rick in, and tells him that she needs blood. Patricia, who acts as Hershel's nurse, sticks a needle in Rick's arm. Hershel goes into Annabeth's stomach and she screams in agony. "STOP! You're killing her!" Rick screams, as Shane holds down Annabeth and Hershel pulls a bullet fragment out from her wound, before she passes out from blood loss.

Hershel states that he has removed one of the fragments, but there are still five more that are buried too deep for him to get out without putting her under. "If She moved and screamed like she did the first time when she went deeper, she'd sever an artery," Hershel explains. Rick insists that Lori has to know, but Shane stops him from leaving his son's side to search for her on his own because Annabeth need's more of Rick's blood. Shane tells him to have the strength of his wife, who kept a bedside vigil for Rick after he was shot months earlier. "I'll take care of the rest," Shane promises.

Hershel tells Rick that she will need major surgery to remove the last fragments, but that there was internal bleeding, and that they are unequipped at the farm for such a process. He claims that they need a respirator and more equipment to undergo this operation without losing her. Hershel explains that these materials are all from the FEMA command post that's set up at the local high school five miles from the farm. "The place was overrun last time I saw it," says Otis, but he adds hopefully, "Maybe it's better now." Shane's prepared to go on his own, and Rick is guilt-ridden for it, but Otis volunteers to go along to right his mistake. Patricia, his wife, tries to object, but he won't hear it. Maggie, Hershel's eldest daughter, offers to find Lori and the rest of the survivors to tell them what happened.

Rick gives Otis his colt as a secondary weapon before he leaves with Shane for the high school, thanking the man for risking his life to help save the woman. Otis´s only other gun is the rifle he shot Carl with, and he packs it into the truck sheepishly as he and Shane pile into his pick-up truck. "Man, this turned into one strange day," Shane muses.

Back at the RV, T-Dog, now delirious, tries to convince Dale that the two of them should take the RV and run, believing that the group will be quick to kill them as he sees them as the two weak links. Dale blows him off, but he realizes that T-Dog's infection is getting worse due to an intense fever and continues looking for antibiotics after making T-Dog take some ibuprofen he found to "knock the fever down".

About 100 yards from the highway on their way back from searching for Sophia, Andrea is attacked by a walker. The group rushes back to help her, but the walker has her pinned to the ground. She's terrified, and she wonders if this is it. A horse gallops out of the bush and Maggie, baseball bat in hand, knocks the walker off Andrea before any damage is done. "Lori? Lori Grimes?" She stepped forward and Maggie tells Lori that Carl was shot. "He's OK. But Annabeth is in danger!" Daryl looked up to the girl. Giving the rest of the group directions to Greene Farm, Glenn looks on dumbfounded. She jumps on the back of the horse and heads towards the farmhouse with Maggie, after which the walker sits up and Daryl, before shooting says 'shut up'.

Rick admires Hershel's picturesque farm, which Hershel says has been in his family for 160 years. Hershel tries to reassure Rick that the virus is a temporary thing and that a cure will be found, but Rick tries to tell him it's a lot worse than he thinks. Maggie and Lori are seen galloping on the horse towards the house. Lori arrives at the house, and breaks down when she sees Carl with a bandage on his arm and Annabeth lying passed out in bed with gauze to cover her wound and chest. After Rick gives his second blood transfusion, Hershel hands him a glass of orange juice, and assures him and Lori that he'll have a far better chance of saving Annabeth if Shane and Otis get back from the high school with the proper equipment. He tells them that he's done the surgery before, but he informs them he's a veterinarian, not a doctor. Lori struggles to accept that this is the best care available for her friend.

Back at the highway, Andrea won't speak to Dale, who heard her screams in the forest. He's stunned to find out Annabeth's been shot, but he tells Glenn to take T-Dog to Hershel's farm for medical treatment on his arm while the others stay behind to wait for the kids They decide to rig a sign for Sophia and Michael in the morning before they all move to the farm. Daryl, hearing how badly in need of antibiotics T-dog is, gives him a selection of antibiotics from his brother Merle's stash of drugs, which he left behind at the campsite after cutting off his own hand in Atlanta and fleeing. "Why'd you wait 'til now to say anything?" Daryl asks, tossing him a bottle of doxycycline. With that, Daryl, Glenn, and T-Dog left for the house.

Shane and Otis arrive at the high school at dusk. They discover that it is still overrun by walkers. They formulate a plan to cross the parking lot and get to the now abandoned FEMA trailer. Shane pops the trunk of an abandoned police cruiser and finds a set of flares. He sets them off, distracting the walkers and enabling them to reach the trailer unharmed.

Hershel warns Rick and Lori that Carl's pressure keeps dropping, and soon they'll have to decide whether or not to do the surgery without the anesthetic, which has a higher chance of killing him, but he also says that she will die without the surgery. Rick wants to go after Shane and Otis, but Lori commands him to stay for her and Carl's sake. After successfully collecting the necessary equipment from the trailer, Shane and Otis are quickly overrun. They lock themselves inside the school by placing a cotter pin in a sliding gate, which is being shaken loose by an overbearing herd trying to make its way inside.


	5. Chapter 4

It was late, it was almost too late for Annabeth to get better. Before a decision could be made, the sound of a truck came from outside. It was Shane with all the equipment needed, but he was alone. "Otis?" Hershel asked and he shook his head looking down. The old man said that they don't tell Patricia because of the surgery and her needing to be focused. With that, they entered inside with all the stuff needed, and started the surgery.

 **Back at the Highway:**

Daryl couldn't sleep, he was too worried about Annabeth and looked back at the kids sleeping. He decided to go search for the kids; thinking maybe a walk could get him sleepy enough to actually get some sleep. He grabbed his crossbow and a few arrows before grabbing a flashlight and walking into the woods. All he could think about was Annabeth, the news of her being shot ringing in his ears. He sighed and stabbed a tree, trying to get his anger out in some way.

 **At The Farm**

Glenn comforts Maggie over the loss of Otis, and she tells him about her stepmother and stepbrother, who both became walkers. Hershel is able to stabilize Annabeth , which leaves Rick and Lori near tears. Rick offers to help Hershel with informing Patricia about Otis. As she sobs, Shane looks on from the living room. Shane goes to the girl's room, where he finds Lori at his bedside and stands back nervously. "Stay," she says to him, but he can't. Maggie finds him in the hallway and hands him some overalls. "I brought you some clothes. They won't fit well; they were Otis'." Shane goes to the bathroom and has his shower, and with his full head of hair he finds a bald spot, where it looks as if hair has been pulled from his scalp. He remembers what happened at the high school as he looks around the bathroom in various drawers and cabinets for an electric razor.

 **The Next Day:**

Cattle are grazing at the farm, as Daryl, Andrea, Dale, and Carol arrive with the RV and the rest of their belongings while Shane, T-Dog and Glenn help Hershel's family collect rocks for Otis' funeral. "Is she alive." Rick smiled and nodded. "She's gonna pull through. She's gonna be fine." Daryl felt relief at his words when her kids came out they were doing a little dance at the sound of their mom being better. Hershel came out, saying; "She's awake." With that, her kids ran like lightning bolts, trying to get into the house one after another. "She has a lot of kids." The old man said, walking behind the house. After everyone has settled, Hershel leads a funeral for Otis, piling his grave with the rocks they'd collected earlier, and asks Shane, wearing a pair of Otis' overalls, to offer some form of eulogy since he was the last one to see him alive. Shane initially tries to avoid having to make such a speech, but Patricia, Otis' wife, begs to know that his death had meaning, pointing out that Shane was the only one who shared Otis' final moments. Shane starts his eulogy, stating that Otis sacrificed his life to help save Annabeth. He seemed distant before

After the funeral, Hershel's eldest daughter, Maggie, brings a map of the county to assist in coordinating the search for Sophia, but Hershel won't allow Rick and Shane to head off the farm on account of Shane's ankle, and Rick having given three units of blood for Annabeth the day before. Daryl decides he'll head out to look for Sophia on his own. Shane suggests finally teaching people how to shoot, though Hershel disapproves of guns being carried around on his property. Rick agrees with Hershel, recognizing that he and the others are guests of Hershel and his family and must respect their rules.

Shane reluctantly hands over his gun, and Andrea begrudgingly follows after him. Nonetheless, Rick is able to negotiate that Dale continues to serve as a lookout, keeping an eye out for nearby walkers. The group agrees amongst themselves that if they find Sophia and she's been bitten, that they'll "do what needs to be done."

Maggie states that medical supplies are running low, and she volunteers to take a trip to the local pharmacy a mile down the road to gather more. Rick suggests that Glenn accompany her, describing him as the group's 'go-to-town' expert. Shane finds Lori by the RV and they have a brief and slightly awkward conversation about Carl's health. "Did you mean it? When you said, 'Stay'?" Shane wonders. "I meant it," Lori says, standing back from him. He settles in to clean guns at a picnic table, and Andrea joins him, eager to learn once and for all. After Maggie informs Glenn of their upcoming trip to town, Dale asks her about water wells on the farm. Maggie explains that the second well was used for the cattle, but the water is just as pure as the well used for the house. She tells Dale and T-Dog to take what they need. She excuses herself to saddle the horses for the trip into town, much to Glenn's surprise.

As Daryl heads into the woods, Hershel joins Rick outside. When Rick offers to set up his group's campsite by the barn to give the Greene Family more privacy, Hershel says that they're better off closer to the house. He tells Rick that he doesn't want his group to think they're welcome on the farm permanently. "Once you find this girl, and your boy's fit for travel, I expect you'll move on. We need to be clear on that," he tells him.

As Glenn stares at Maggie in control of the two horses as they prepare to head into town, Lori pulls him aside and gives him a piece of paper with a list of supplies she needs him to get for her. In addition, Lori hands him a second piece of paper and asks him to obtain a special item for her from the 'feminine hygiene' section of the pharmacy. She also asks that Glenn be discreet about acquiring it.

Meanwhile, T-Dog and Dale walk out to one of the wells to get water for the group, and T-Dog asks Dale to forget about what he said on the highway the day before. "I'm not weak, and I'm not a coward. I don't know what that was; where it came from. That wasn't me." Dale obliges him easily, stating that he couldn't get a word out of him all day, and says he doesn't know what he's talking about. T-Dog smiles, grateful he's alive, as he pumps water from the well. Dale then notices a hole in the planks covering the nearby well, and he moves closer to investigate. His face falls as the sound of lapping water is mixed in with the familiar growls of a walker. He stares at T-Do and just as he is about to take a drink of the water from the well, Dale knocks the ladle of water to the ground and warns him not to drink it. T-Dog looks at him confused.

As Glenn, Maggie, Andrea, Lori, and Shane gather around the well, a bloated, wet zombie reaches helplessly for them from the bottom. Andrea jokes about the walker having been in the well "long enough to grow gills" as Dale comments, "Looks like we've got ourselves a swimmer."The group discusses options to deal with the walker in the well, agreeing that shooting the walker in its place would certainly pollute the drinking water. They all agree that they need to coax the walker out of the well. The group attempts to bait it with canned ham, which fails when they realise it will obviously not eat anything remotely fresh. "There's a reason the dead didn't come back and start raiding our cupboards," Lori muses. Realizing that nothing short of live bait will suffice, they decide to send Glenn down the well. They plan to have him fasten a rope around the walker so that it can be pulled out, alive and without decontaminating the water, before they kill it. Maggie hates the idea, but knows it's the only plan they can think of to get the walker out alive and keep the well's water clean.

She stands watch as the group slowly lowers Glenn down the well, using the water pump to provide leverage for the rope. Glenn almost succeeds in getting the creature harnessed without it noticing him or the ropes, but the water pump breaks under Glenn's weight. This causes him to fall within reach of the now alert and frantic walker. Glenn screams at the group to pull him out, and they scramble to regain physical advantage of the rope. Eventually, they are able to pull a shaken and horrified Glenn backup. Catching his breath while the group views the attempt as a failure, Glenn smiles, revealing that he was able to secure the rope around the walker amidst the chaos.

Daryl finds an abandoned home in the woods, taking note that a can of sardines had recently been consumed. He also finds a makeshift bed inside a closet, only big enough for someone short, like Sophia and Michael. He calls her name as he walks outside, but he stops in front of a pair of white flowers in the grass. He heard the sound of a creaking and turned around with a crossbow ready. His eyes widen at the sight.

Back at the farm, the group is pulling the walker to the top of the well, but in its water-bloated state, it gets stuck on the sides of the well. As they pull harder, the walker splits in half, with the bottom part of its body and most of its entrails falling back into the well. Clearly disappointed at the wasted effort, T-Dog lets out his frustration, destroying the walker's brain with a pickaxe. "Good thing we didn't do anything stupid, like shoot it," he mumbles, walking off. The group decides to seal the well.

Shane and Andrea head to the highway to comfort Carol, who has been waiting all day by a painted sign on a car windshield with a collection of food supplies for Sophia. Carol is losing hope that Sophia will be found alive and doesn't want to hear any comforting words. She tearfully leaves the highway with Andrea and Shane, who are looking at a potential place where they can have target practice. Shane, limping heavily because of his ankle injury, describes to Andrea how you just have to trust your instincts when it comes to protecting your life with a gun "How do you do that?" Andrea asks, and he tells her, "Turn off a switch. The one that makes you scared. Odds are there's always somebody else counting on you. There's nothing' easy about taking a man's life, but when you get it done, you have to forget it." Admitting he hasn't quite reached that stage, Andrea says comfortingly, "But you're getting there," though she has no idea he's talking about Otis.

Glenn is trying awkwardly to initiate a conversation with Maggie as they ride on the horses in to town. She's quiet, having never seen a walker killed up close before because she's always been protected at the farm. After reaching the local pharmacy, Glenn hands her the master list Lori gave him and says he's just going to look around and see what's worth grabbing. As Maggie walks away to search, he pulls Lori's 'special list' from his pocket. Finding the 'feminine hygiene' section, he shuffles through a few random boxes on the floor, finding a True Blue pregnancy test. As he reads the box and realizes why Lori needs it, his face falls. Maggie finds him, and he quickly stuffs the pregnancy test in his bag before she can see it. Maggie questions why he is in this section of the store and Glenn grabs a random box from the floor to cover his tracks. He's grabbed a box of condoms, and Maggie asks if he's got a girlfriend she doesn't know about, or if he's just a confident guy. He sputters that he's neither, and he doesn't know how to get himself out of this mess. It's Maggie who gives him an out: "I'll have sex with you," she says to him. "It's not like our options are vast these days." She pulls off her shirt and bra and kisses Glenn, who follows her lead, dumbfounded and shocked. They proceed to have sex.

Rick asks Hershel to reconsider sending the group off his farm once Annabeth has recovered and Michael Sophia's been found. Hershel is reluctant to let him, but says he'll consider it if his group respects his rules.

As they make their way back to the farm, Maggie refers to their "hookup" as a one-time deal, which immediately disappoints Glenn. When they arrive back at the farm, Hershel right away seems to sense that something went on between them, giving his daughter a quizzical look when she returns and tells him quickly, "Nothing happened."

Lori greets Glenn by the RV, and he hands her the pregnancy test, which she quickly hides in the waistband of her jeans. He wants to say something, but he can't even look her in the eye as he walks away without a word.

Daryl then came back, with someone on his shoulders. "HEY CAROL!" Everyone looked over to him as he carried the now found Sophia back. "SOPHIA!" Carol screams, running over to the redneck and taking her daughter. "Daryl! Where?" He chuckled. "Annabeth was right. She was hiding in a farmhouse a mile north. She found herself a nice place with some food, and a blanket." Carol hugged her daughter tighter. "I can't thank you enough." Rick looks around. "No Michael?" Daryl shook his head. "We still have to find him too." Daryl said; and was suddenly interrupted by a voice. "HEY! You found Sophia!" They all turned around to see Annabeth, walking around and smiling. "I told you I'm a witch. I can heal faster." She picked up one of her kids before walking up to Sophia. "Didn't find Michael?" He just shook his head. "Ask her when she's awake. I'm gonna go spend time with my kids." She said, walking into her RV's. "Why doesn't she seem worried? That's her kid!" Shane yelled. "I think she trust me. She knows I'm not gonna stop until I find him." Daryl said, walking to Annabeth's RV.

Inside the RV, Daryl saw Annabeth was playing with her kids, who were dancing with scarves. "Oh. Hey Daryl." She said, standing up. "What did you want?" She asked. He says nothing and shows him a flower inside a beer bottle. He gives it to Annabeth and she blushes at the flower. Daryl proceeds to tell her the story of the Cherokee Rose, the flower in his vase, said to bloom as a symbol of hope from the tears of the Cherokee mothers who lost their children to disease and starvation along the Trail of Tears after the white men had drove all the Indians off their lands. "I'm not fool enough to believe there's any flowers blooming for my brother, but I believe this one bloomed for your… Our son." She blushes and smiles smelling the flower. "Thank you." Before he left, Daryl handed her a note and left the RV and she blushes deeply.

Rick continues to deconstruct from the lawful man of his existence pre-apocalypse, taking off his uniform and putting away his badge in a drawer at Hershel's home. Lori comes in as he is doing so and looks at his gunshot scar. She hugs him supportively as he shuts the drawer, before heading out on her own with a knife in hand. She walks past the RV unnoticed while Dale, Carol, and Andrea are eating dinner inside. Finding a secluded place out in the fields on the farm, she pulls the pregnancy test from the back of her jeans. Peeing on the stick and then waiting, she bursts into devastated tears when she sees the plus sign, now knowing for sure that she is pregnant.

 **Later- In the Woods:**

Annabeth was waiting exactly where Daryl told her to meet. She looked around to see Daryl was coming up. "Hey…" She said and he looked at her with a strange look in her eye. "You wanted to talk… about us?" She asked and he nodded. She felt nervous, thinking the worst. "If you don't want to be involved… With me or your kids…" She said, his face staying flat. "I understand. But I just want you to know, that it will not change the way that I care about you." She blushed and looks away. "I love you so much… And… JUST WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" She squeaked when he pushed her against the tree. She looked into his eyes. "What do you want from me?" She asked as if she was about to cry. She saw his look at her, filled with an extensive amount of emotions. "... Never… Leave me again." He said, making her gasp and shed tears. His lips pressed against her's, pressing against her boy. His lips didn't stop as his tongue slip inside her mouth. He let go of her wrist and used one to cup her cheek and the other to grip her hips. She wrapped around his back, kissing him back as much as she can. She shed more tears of pure happiness as he kissed her deeply. "Daryl…" She looked up at him. "I don't want to have our first time back together… In the middle of the woods…" She said, and he groaned. "Tomorrow night… Make sure your RV is empty… Don't make me wait anymore…" He said, growling at him lightly. All she could do was nod. "Daryl…" She pulled out the locket… both their minds flashed back to the day she was forced to leave.

 _~~"Please… You have to tell me." She looked over and showed him a note. She hugged him one more time. "I love you. Just remember that… and the phrases I always say…" He kissed her deeply; not wanting to let her go. When she pulled back, she showed him the matching locket and the ring he gave her the past few christmas's. "I will never take this off. I love you. Remember that and my special sayings. I will find you again… I promise." With one more, minute long kiss, Annabeth was pulled back. "I love you Daryl! I love you!" She shed tears as he said back, as he moved back. She sent him one more kiss before she was driven off.~~_

He smiled and took out the matching locket. "I know… We can't tonight but… Can I…" She pressed into him, kissing his deeply and he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer, feeling his lips brush against her neck. That night, they didn't stop kissing each other.


	6. Chapter 5

At farm, Lori wakes up late inside her tent, instantly feeling guilty about it. Carol has already started the chores and suggests she must have needed the sleep, but Lori says nothing when Carol asks if she's feeling alright. Carol asks Lori if she'd help her prepare the evening meal for Hershel and his family to thank them for taking in the survivors. She admits, before asking if Lori could be the one to ask for permission to cook the family dinner. "You're Rick's wife. Sorta makes you our unofficial First Lady," she reasons, and Lori looks back at her, speechless. Annabeth giggled. "I better help the men." She said before walking away.

Meanwhile, Rick is preparing the search grid with Shane, Daryl, Andrea, and T-Dog. Teenage Jimmy, the boyfriend of Hershel's youngest daughter Beth, offers to search with them because he says he knows the area well, saying that Hershel said it was okay. But he doesn't have a gun, and Shane says he'll be useless until he joins the group for gun training, so Andrea offers for him to go with her and T-Dog. Daryl plans to set out on horseback alone to look for Michael, believing he can spot her better from the ridge. T-Dog jokes that today might be the day that Daryl will see his chupacabra, and while Jimmy chokes down a laugh, Dale fills Rick in on the time Daryl said he saw a chupacabra - one of the first stories about himself that he revealed to the Atlanta survivors. "You believe in a bloodsucking dog?" Rick asks, and Daryl shoots back, "Do you believe in dead people walking around?" "Or a Witch?" Annabeth said, walking up.

Glenn and Maggie discuss what happened at the pharmacy. Maggie admits that she's not even sure that she likes him, and Glenn says back, as suggestively as he's capable of, "But you're thinking about it? You should." Maggie stifles a laugh and walks off.

While they search the woods for Michael, Rick and Shane discuss Shane's conquests in high school, joking that Rick lives vicariously through him. But Shane doesn't like talking about the past: "It's like we're old folk," he cracks. "All the people in our stories are all dead." When Shane adds that nostalgia is dangerous because it keeps people from knowing when to move on, Rick knows him well enough to know that he's talking about the search for Annabeth's son. Shane challenges Rick about his decisions to always try to help others when they should be focused purely on survival. He reminds Rick that everything they know about missing children from their time on the force has told them that they're looking for a body after 72 hours, and that was before the dead came back to life. "Michael, alive or dead, only matters to the degree in which she doesn't drag the rest of us down," he says, reminding him that Annabeth almost died, and Otis did die, as they accidentally wander into Andrea and T-Dog's search grid on their thankless search.

Daryl is riding one of Hershel's horses through the woods when he spots something by the water. He parks the horse and climbs down, finding a torn piece of Michaels shirt and a necklace, tattered and wet, against a log. He calls Michael's name, to no avail. Taking the things with him, he gets back on the horse and continues through the woods, but the horse is spooked by a snake in the grass, and throws Daryl before it runs off.

Out of control, he tumbles down the tree-covered ridge, landing hard in the shallow, rocky water, with one of this arrows, which had been slung around his back, pierced through his torso. He rips off his shirtsleeves to keep the arrow in place, before he uses a stick to find his crossbow in the chest-deep murky water. He climbs back up the steep ridge, using the stick and pushing himself up in his weakened state. He tries to will himself up the ridge, but loses his grip and tumbles backwards toward the pond.

At the farm, Glenn corners Lori at the tents and confirms she's pregnant. She begs him not to tell anyone. Glenn is stunned that she hasn't told Rick yet, but he disappears as Rick and Shane return from the woods without Michael. Taking one look at them, she knows that something's wrong. Rick tells Lori that Shane wants to call off the search, and that he thinks Rick's good intentions are making the group weaker. But Lori assures him that if it was Carl, she would want to know either way, insisting that there's nothing soft about the choices he has to make in their new world. Beth interrupts them to tell Rick that her father, Hershel, wants to speak with him.

Rick finds Hershel by the generator, and he informs Rick that Daryl took one of his horses, Nervous Nellie, without consent, and Rick informs him that he took Jimmy at his word when he said that Hershel was fine with him going out into the woods that day - but Hershel hadn't consented to that, either. Rick concedes that they need to work on their communication, and Hershel requests he keep it simple: "I'll control my people, you control yours."

Bloody and bruised, Daryl wakes up at the bottom of the ridge, and his brother, Merle Dixon, appears, telling him he's wasting his time looking for a little boy, but not looking for his brother. "You gave up looking for me the moment you met that girl. Annabeth." He says, looking at him. "She's special to me. She has my kids… There my kin too…" Daryl counters. "You mean the woman who left you on yer own? The women who told ya she was pregnant with your kin?" He just groaned. Daryl tells Merle that he and Rick went back to Atlanta for him, but he was gone, and Merle can't believe he's talking about the same Rick who made him cut off his own hand.

In his groggy state, Daryl notices that Merle's right hand is firmly attached to Merle's right arm, conforming to Daryl that this is, in fact, a hallucination. Merle assures Daryl that no one in Rick's group will ever care for him like he does; they're not his blood. "You go back there and shoot your pal Rick in the face for me, then Annabeth as well." he tells him, yelling at him to get up and threatening to otherwise kick his teeth in.

But Merle isn't kicking Daryl, and his hallucination melts away to reveal a walker grabbing at his feet, and he comes to just in time to kick the walker off him, finding his stick and bashing the walker over the head. A second walker emerges from the brush, and Daryl manages to remove his one remaining arrow from his wounded torso, and load his crossbow, just before the walker descends on him.

He leaves the ridge agreeing with everything his brother said in his hallucination. He cuts off the ears of the dead walkers and makes them into a necklace before resuming his climb, only to be taunted by Merle again as he closes in on the top of the ridge. The taunts help Daryl to make it to the top, having pushed him forward and fed his anger. When Merle tells him that he was the only one who looked after his "worthless ass," Daryl spits back, "You talk a big game, but you was never there. You ain't here, now; some things never change." Merle chuckles. "I'm as real as your chupacabra," Merle charges, challenging him to make it to the top and kick his ass for insulting his belief in what he saw. "Come on, little brother," Merle taunts. "Grab your friend Rick's hand." It's the last thing he says before Daryl makes it to the top of the ridge, his vision of Merle disappearing. "Yeah, you better run!" Daryl shouts, catching his breath, but he sees someone he wasn't expecting. "Annabeth?" She looks over him in a panic. "What the hell happened to you?" She asked, running up to him and looking over his wounds. "Let's get you to Hershel…" She said, taking his arm lightly and leading his way.

Lori, Carol, Beth, and Patricia work to cook dinner in the farmhouse kitchen. Carol says she never thought she'd be so happy to see a potato peeler, while Lori notes she's just thrilled not to be roasting squirrels over a fire again tonight. But their presence in the kitchen irritates Hershel. He tells Maggie, who's setting the table, that he thinks they need to set clear boundaries with Rick's people, and she says she doesn't understand why it's a problem. "It's just dinner," she shrugs. Disconcerted, he asks about "the Asian boy." She tells him Glenn's a friend, and he asks her not to make him chase her around like he does with Beth and Jimmy. She replies that she's not 16, and he doesn't need to chase her around. He tells her not to get close to him, reminding her that the survivors won't be around forever.

Andrea's taking perch above the RV, brandishing a rifle and watching over the farm. Dale teases her about her "Annie Oakley routine" but she blows him off. "I don't want to wash clothes anymore, Dale. I want to help keep the camp safe. Is that alright with you?" Disappointed by another misjudged moment with Andrea, Dale heads inside the RV, where he finds Glenn returning one of his books. Glenn asks if Dale thinks Andrea's on her period, as Dale tries to make him keep his voice down. Glenn tells him that all the women are acting weird around camp, and that he read somewhere once that when women spend a lot of time together, their cycles line up. Dale gets him off the subject, forcing him to back up. "Who else is acting weird?" he asks. "Maggie," Glenn replies, adding, "And I don't even want to know what's going on with Lori." When Dale asks about Lori, Glenn backtracks, but opens up to Dale that he and Maggie had sex, but now she doesn't even want to talk to him. Dale gives him a hard time for not thinking it through because Maggie's father is their host, but Glenn says he did it because he thought he could be dead tomorrow, and Dale backs off. But a disappointed Glenn leaves the RV, and Andrea spots a lone walker emerging from the woods. She peers through a pair of binoculars, the sun's reflection beaming off the glass, and announces, "I bet I can nail him from here!"

Rick orders her to put the gun down, and Shane tells Andrea, "You best let us handle this." Rick tells the group that Hershel wants to deal with walkers on his land but Shane, T-Dog, and Glenn grab weapons and run towards the woods. Rick follows, brandishing his gun, but when the men come upon the supposed walker, they realize that it's Daryl, covered in dirt and blood; Annabeth behind him. Dale begs Andrea not to shoot, but she tells him tersely to back off. Staring down the men, Daryl spits at Rick, "That's the third time you pointed that thing at my head. You gonna pull the trigger or what?" Rick lowers his gun but Andrea takes her shot from the top of the RV, hitting Daryl in the head. Rick and Annabeth screams in horror and Andrea's face falls at the sound.

Lori, Carol, and Hershel's family run screaming from the farmhouse and the sound of the gunshot, demanding to know what's going on. "I was kidding," Daryl mutters before he passes out after the shot, the bullet having grazed his temple. Dale and Andrea run towards the men in the field, and Andrea's pleading that Daryl's not dead. Rick and Shane carry Daryl back towards the house, and Glenn points out that Daryl's wearing ears. Rick stuffs the necklace in his pocket and tells the group to keep that to themselves. T-Dog finds Michaels sleeve among Daryl's things, and the group looks on. Rick doesn't know for sure if this is a sign of hope or rejection. Annabeth was crying. "Daryl… Please don't die." She shed tears. For some reason, Shane looked at her angry.

 **Later:**

Rick questions Daryl about his findings inside the farmhouse, while Hershel tends to his wounds and comments that he never thought they would go through the antibiotics so quickly. He's still annoyed that Daryl took his horse, which is now missing. "She must have dropped it crossing the creek somewhere," Daryl reasons, cutting their search grid in half and giving Rick hope. Shane, though, thinks that the necklace is no sign that Sophia's still alive, but Rick doesn't want to hear it.

Lori hears them, and when Rick walks off, Shane defends himself to her. "I'm not out to be a hard case. Just being realistic. He's gotta start making the tough calls." Lori says she may not agree with all of Rick's choices, but she respects his choices more than she does either of theirs. Shane says that all he cares about now are her and Carl, so he doesn't care if he's not thinking about the needs of others, even if it means abandoning a lost child. Disgusted, Lori stalks off after telling him, "My son and I are not your problem anymore. Or your excuse."

Andrea's despondent on the front porch steps and Dale comes to sit with her. "Don't be too hard on yourself," he tells her, "We've all wanted to shoot Daryl." She raises a smile at him for the first time close to a week. "Hey Andrea…" The blond looked up. Everyone knew that she was now with Daryl. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry Annabeth… I just…" Annabeth raised her hand up. "You were trying to protect the group. But you do it again… I'll kill you." She giggled and hugged the blond. She smile lightly.

That evening as Carl sleeps, Lori sits alone at his bedside, tearfully wondering what she's going to do about her pregnancy. Carol enters the room to tell her dinner's ready, not at all surprised to find her crying in the world they live in. She doesn't pry, and Lori wipes away her tears and heads down for dinner. The two groups sit down to a silent, awkward dinner, and Glenn tries to cut the tension asking if anyone knows how to play guitar because of the one Dale found at the traffic snarl. "Otis did," Patricia says softly, and the silence drones on. Glenn is sitting at the "kids'" table with Beth, Jimmy, and Maggie, and Maggie passes him a note under the table. "Tonight where?" it reads, and he looks up, smiling at her. He excitedly scrawls something on the paper, which can be heard throughout the dining room as no one says a word to one another. Hershel and Dale look on disapprovingly.

Carol brings a plate of food up to Daryl, and thanks him for what he did looking for Sophia, kissing his bandaged head. Daryl rebuffs her, telling her to watch out for his stitches and turning to face the window. "You did more for my little girl today than her own daddy ever did for her in his whole life," she says, and he shrugs it off, saying he didn't do anything Rick or Shane wouldn't have done. "I know," Carol says. "You're every bit as good as them." Annabeth walked into the bedroom. "Are you ok?" She asked and he nodded. "I'm just here to help you." She smiled and sat next to him. "Remember, I'm a witch…" He smiled. "You're gonna feel a bit of a warm, tingly feeling and feel a lot better." He smirked. "Like when we were dating…" She giggled and kisses him deeply. She placed her hand on his chest, her eyes closed and her hand glowing.

Beth and Maggie are cleaning dishes after dinner, and Maggie sneaks away to read Glenn's note. "Ever done it in a hayloft?" it says, and Maggie's eyes go wide. Glenn is at the barn with a flashlight and a sleeping bag, finding the barn door chained and padlocked. He walks around the barn and finds a ladder into the hayloft, while Maggie runs desperately towards the barn.


	7. Chapter 6

Daryl moved out to the campground because he can't stand being inside the house for too long. Andrea had come in to see Daryl. "Hey. This is not that great, but…" She showed him a book. "What, no pictures?" He asked. "I'm so sorry. I feel like shit." Andrea said. "Yeah, you and me both." He said, toying with his arrows. "I don't expect you to forgive me, but if there's anything I can do…" "You were trying to protect the group. We're good. But hey, shoot me again, and you'd best pray I'm dead." Andrea giggled as she left. Jimmy, Rick, and Shane busily plan their search for Michael, agreeing to search a nearby abandoned housing development after gun practice. Beth and Patricia both ask to be trained as Otis was the only member of the farm trained; though Rick will only do so if Hershel agrees. Carl also asks Shane to teach him and it is discovered that he has taken a gun from Dale's RV. This leads to a heated conversation between Lori and Rick where Carl argues that he only wants to help. Lori agrees to allow Carl to learn how to handle the weapon. Glenn is asked if he wants to learn, but he excuses himself by saying he's going to be helping Dale. Unbeknownst to Glenn, Dale was nearby and overheard. He kept up the ruse and confronted Glenn after the others had left, leading Glenn to reveal the secrets of both Lori and Hershel.  
At the firing range, Andrea is proving to be a natural at handling a firearm. She asks Shane what made him decide to stay with the camp, but he doesn't answer and only stares at Carl and Lori with Rick. Back at the farm, Dale speaks with Hershel and brings up the walkers. Hershel argues that the Walkers are still people and that every one that is killed is, in the end, murder. Dale tries to make Hershel realize the truth about the Walkers, but he will not accept the reality of the apocalypse. Dale offers to help reinforce the barn, but Hershel rebuffs him and asks him to keep the secret of the barn to himself if he truly wants to help.  
Annabeth was with Daryl, playing with his fingers. He chuckled when Tara came in. "Lookie! I found a snail!" She said. "That's so cute!" She smiled lightly and ran out. "We're like a big family." She looked down at him confused. He smirked at her and he sat up, kissing her deeply, pulling her closer.

As Lori and Hershel repair a fence, she thanks him again for everything he has done and tells him that they will earn their place at the farm. Hershel again reminds her that he expects them to move on to Fort Benning soon. Andrea and Shane are trying advanced target training with a mobile target and Shane badgers Andrea by bringing up her sister Amy. Andrea walks away. Lori confronts Rick about Hershel's desire for them to leave and why he hasn't told anyone else in the group. Rick tells her that they have to give Hershel space if he's going to change their mind; nonetheless, Rick reminds her if they have to leave his first priority is her and Carl. Shane follows Andrea in his car after she storms away, but she wants nothing to do with him. Shane uses Sophia to get her to respond to him by telling her about the housing project. She agrees to search it with him.

Back at camp, Dale tells Lori about his wife's miscarriage and admits that Glenn told him about her pregnancy. She tells him about Shane, but she's sure that the baby belongs to Rick. Dale assures her that the baby can have good memories, but he sits in silence when Lori asks if he thinks her child could live a long life.

Glenn apologizes to Lori while chopping firewood, but Lori tells him not to worry about it. She asks him to go to town to get supplies and Maggie goes with him. The two argue over the nature of walkers and Maggie tells him that her father is angry at her for letting him find out. She tells him that they're still people and tells him not to call them walkers anymore, reciting their names to him. They return to the pharmacy where Maggie is attacked and only escapes after Glenn kills the walker. As this is happening, Andrea and Shane explore the housing community they believe Sophia is hiding in. They decide to search house by house. Maggie blows up on Lori for risking their lives, and then argues with Glenn over his being little more than the errand boy for the Atlanta survivors when he could be a leader. While searching a home in the housing community, Andrea and Shane are swarmed by walkers. Shane uses this as an opportunity to test Andrea's shooting ability and handling of stress, especially after her gun jams in the middle of a swarm. She eventually gets the hang of it, hitting headshot after headshot.

Lori and Glenn talk about the attack at the pharmacy and Lori apologizes because she thought the town was safe. Glenn gives Lori the morning after pills she asked for, but also gives her prenatal vitamins that he found at the pharmacy. He urges her to let Rick help her make the choice and not make it for the both of them after confirming their friendship.

Meanwhile, Andrea and Shane have sex while Lori takes the morning after pills. She immediately afterward sticks her fingers down her throat to make herself vomit. After returning, Andrea apologizes to Carol and the two leave. Dale confronts Shane about the night Otis died and brings up Shane's attempt on Rick. Dale tells him it's time for him to leave because he knows who he really is, leading Shane to challenge Dale and threaten him.


	8. Chapter 7

Everyone sits at the camp eating breakfast. Daryl and Annabeth are being more friendly than ever. Glenn looks over at the house, where Maggie stands shaking her head, then looking at Dale who nods. Glenn reveals to the survivors that Hershel's barn is full of walkers. Everyone looked up to him, stopping that they were doing or eating before looking at each other.

The group immediately goes to investigate with Shane taking the lead. "You cannot tell me you're all right with this." Shane asked. "No. I'm not but we're guest here. This isn't out land. "It ain't right. Not remotely. Okay, we've either got to go in there, we've got to make things right or we've just got to go. Now we have been talking about fort Benning for a long time." Carol says her daughter is still out there, and Shane tells her they need to consider the possibility that Sophia is dead. Daryl insists he's close to finding her but this doesn't appease Shane. "I'm close to finding this girl. I just found her damn doll two days ago." Daryl says. "You found her doll, Daryl. That's what you did. You found a doll." Shane counters. :You don't know what the hell you're talking about." The redneck yelled again. "I'm just saying what needs to be said. You get a good lead, it's in the first 48 hours. Shane, stop. Let me tell you something else, man. If she was alive out there and saw you coming all methed out with your buck knife and geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction." Annabeth slapped him across the face and a mini battle broke out. Rick says he's going to talk to Hershel about the barn and staying when Dale reveals that Hershel sees the walkers as sick people, and with good reason. This only makes Shane mad at Dale for not telling them sooner, but Dale thought they would be fine. The walkers in the barn start rocking the barn doors and Annabeth gripped onto Daryl. The survivors know they will have to deal with this issue soon.

Shane stands guard at the barn, testing the locks; only to have something bang against the wall. Glenn goes to speak with Maggie, but she rebuffs him. "Gimme your hat. You said talk to you I'm talking to you. Gimme your hat." He hands her his baseball hat, and he answers his plea by smashing an egg in his hat. Carl and Lori discuss Sophia. Carl says that he doesn't want to leave the farm until they find Michael and even after that.

As Hershel reads the Bible over lunch, Rick goes to him to discuss remaining at the farm again and to tell him that they know about the Walkers in the barn. Rick just wants to talk, but Hershel demands that they leave before the end of the week and Rick confronts him about the reality that they'll face. "Dale said you saw everything happen on the news. Well, it's been... It's been a long time since the cameras stopped rolling. The first time I saw a walker it was just half a body snapping at me from the ground. My inclination wasn't to kill it. But what the world is out there isn't what you saw on TV. It is much much worse and it changes you. Either into one of them or something a lot less than the person you were. Please do not... do not send us out there again." Hershel just remained silent. "My wife's pregnant. That's either a gift here or a death sentence out there. If we were to stay we could help you with the work, with securing this place. We can survive together." Rick says. "Rick, I'm telling you we can't." "You think about what you're doing." "I've thought about it." "Think about it." "I've thought about it!" "Think about it again. We can't go out there." With that, Rick leaves the house. Rick joins Shane at the barn and tells him that Lori is pregnant in order to make him agree to stay.

Later, Hershel tries to justify sending the group away, stating that Annabeth doesn't need his help anymore. Maggie reminds Hershel of John 13:34, a verse he often quoted to her when Hershel decided to marry her mother about loving one another. Hershel asks if her feelings for Glenn are an issue, leading her to bring up the encounter with the walker in the pharmacy and Glenn saved her from people her father was trying to rescue. She asks him again to reconsider saying that it is only about him and who he's going to be. Jimmy interrupts them to tell him that they've found two trapped walkers. Hershel decides to ask Rick, who is planning the search grid for Sophia, to come with him.

Shane confronts Lori about her pregnancy and tells her that he's sure the baby is his. He admits that when he saw Rick was alive, he wished that he wasn't because he doesn't believe Rick can survive in this world. Lori tells him that the baby will never be his and belongs to her and Rick. "No. The baby is mine." Shane says, only to have another voice come from behind them. "You have no right. No right to say that the baby is yours or anything else. She has a choice. She choses to believe who the baby belongs to. Get away." As Lori and Annabeth watches, Shane walks away and is stopped by Carl. Carl tells him that they have to find Sophia and that they have to stay at the farm. Lori calls to Carl to get him away from Shane. Immediately, Shane goes to the RV to gather their guns only to find them all missing. He asks Glenn where Dale has gone, but Glenn doesn't know. Shane goes after Dale, tracking him away from the camp.

Deep in the swamps Hershel, Jimmy, and Rick are walking through the forest with Hershel telling Rick about his neighbors. He tells him about a women he knew who owned a nearby farm and an unknown person who Hershel met where he worked. As they free the trapped walkers, Hershel mentions Otis was the one that always corralled the walkers and put them in the barn. Hershel asks Rick if they'd be able to stop killing walkers and Hershel explains his philosophy regarding the walkers. He tells him flat out that if they want to stay they will have to give up killing walkers and leave the barn alone.

Deeper in the swamps, the group tries to extricate the walkers that are stuck. Hershel explains that the walkers will follow them; they just have to keep hold of them. While on watch, Glenn spots Maggie walking alone and joins her. She ignores him, but he emphatically states that he had to tell the group. For a while he forgot the walkers are dangerous, and secrets have a way of getting people killed. Glenn would rather Maggie be angry with him if it meant she was still alive. Maggie relents and they reconcile with a kiss.

Annabeth is playing with her kids As Maggie offers to clean Glenn's hat, Shane returns to the farm and starts handing out guns to the group. Maggie, Carl, and Lori try to talk him out of what he's planning to do. In the distance, T-Dog spots the group returning with the two captured walkers. Catching up with them, Shane argues with Hershel about his view regarding the walkers. "Are you kidding me? You see? You see what they're holding onto?" Shane asked angrily. "I see who I'm holding onto." "No, man, you don't."

Rick: Shane, just let us do this and then we can talk.

"What you want to talk about, Rick? These things ain't sick. They're not people. They're dead. Ain't gonna feel nothing for them 'cause all they do, they kill! These things right here, they're the things that killed Amy. They killed Otis. They're gonna kill all of us." Shane yelled as hard and loud as he could. "Shane, shut up!" Rick yelled. "Hey, Hershel man, let me ask you something. Could a living breathing person, could they walk away from this?" Shane asked, shooting Lou three times. "That's three rounds in the chest. Could someone who's alive, could they just take that?! Why is it still coming? That's its heart, its lungs. Why is it still coming?" More gunshots echo. "Shane, enough." "Yeah, you're right, man. That is enough." Hershel, in shock, watches as Shane puts the walker down with a bullet to the head. Seconds later, Shane begins a tirade about how the group needs to start fighting to survive and that they need to stop wasting time on pointless endeavors like rescuing Sophia and the keeping the walkers in the barn. "Enough risking our lives for a little girl who's gone! Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us. Enough. Rick, it ain't like it was before! Now if y'all want to live, if you want to survive, you gotta fight for it! I'm talking about fighting right here, right now." Annabeth ran to Shane, kicking him in the back and forcing him against the barn. He counter back by taking out his gun and shooting Annabeth near her foot. She screams out in pain as Willow runs up to her sister. Dragging her to the side, Shane lets the walkers free from the barn and they begin to file out one at a time. Shane, Andrea, T-Dog, and Daryl kill them as the Greene family watches in horror. Glenn only joins in with Maggie's consent. Rick doesn't try to stop them. Just as Dale arrives, a final walker's timid frame steps out of the barn and into the sunlight. The group realizes with horror that it is Michael. "Momma?" He asked, Annabeth running to her son, followed by Dixie. The family rejoiced at being together again.


	9. Chapter 8

Emotions run high in the aftermath of the barn walker massacre. Beth Greene hurries over to her mother, Annette, to mourn, but she is still alive and attacks Beth. Andrea drives a scythe through the zombified Annette's head to end the struggle. Aurora was in shock of everything that had just happened. As the Greene family walks back to the house, Shane accuses Hershel of knowing Michaels whereabouts. "We've been out. We've been combing these woods looking for her and she was in there all along? You knew." Shane said. "Leave us alone." Maggie yelled. "Get your hands off me. You knew and you kept it from us." Shane said. Aurora looked up to Shane and grabbed a pickaxe. "I didn't know." Hershel said. "That's bullshit. I think y'all knew." Maggie yelled again. "Your... Otis put those people in the barn. Maybe he found her and put her in there before he was killed." Hershel said defending his family and himself. "You expect me to believe that? Do I look like an idiot?" "I don't care what you believe! Get him off my land!" Hershel yelled. Shane reached out to grab Hershel only to be slapped by Maggie. "Hey. Don't touch him! Haven't you done enough?" Shane stared at her when he felt a tap on his shoulders. He turned around to be punched in the face and knocked to the ground. "That was for shooting at me…" She hit him in the stomach three times with the top of the pickaxe. "That was for Annette, Shawn, and Sophia…" She kicked him in the stomach five times. "That was for the Greene Family…" She dropped the heavy took onto his stomach. "And that was for everything else." She turned to the Greene family to see Maggie slightly happy before turning back to her camp.

Hershel pacs his wife's possessions in cardboard boxes, and digs out an old flask from his wardrobe, searching for the means to cope with the reality that there is no cure and he had been hanging onto a fool's hope. After the funeral, Andrea and T-Dog pile corpses into Otis's truck, saying that Shane did what needed to be done. Dale protests, suggesting that a new problem with Hershel was created in the wake of resolving the safety concern of the barn walkers.

Maggie asks Glenn if he would stay if the rest of his group were to leave, but Glenn is unsure on how to answer. Beth suddenly grows ill and collapses. She suffers from a fever and other serious symptoms, and seems to be in some state of shock. The group looks for Hershel to care for Beth, but discover that he has vanished, leaving behind his empty flask as a clue. Rick decides to look for Hershel at the local bar, and takes Glenn as backup.

En route to town, Glenn confides to Rick that Maggie told him that she loved him. Rick says that they need more good things like that in their lives, and that he should embrace those moments.

Beth's condition creates concern, prompting Lori to send someone to search for Rick and Hershel. Daryl is the best choice, but he is still upset over the sacrifices he made in vain to collect Sophia, and snaps, "I'm done lookin' for people." Lori decides to look for Rick herself. As she looked down at the map, she soon, crashes Maggie's car on the highway after unexpectedly hitting a walker in the middle of the road.

At a bar, Rick discovers Hershel and tells him about Beth. Hershel reflects that he had robbed his daughters of a normal grieving process by giving them false hope, and allowed himself to believe it too. Hershel also says that Rick must relate, saying he saw the same feeling wash over Rick's face when Sophia emerged from the barn that there is no hope. Rick argues that nothing has really changed, and people are counting on them to be strong; that it isn't about what they believe anymore, but about keeping their loved ones safe and giving them hope. This resonates with Hershel, who finishes his drink and decisively puts down his glass. They are interrupted when the bar door opens and two strange men walk in, giving their names as Dave and Tony. Dave says that they've come from Philadelphia and had tried to seek refuge in Washington, D.C. but the roads were blocked, so they kept heading west. He also reveals that they encountered a soldier from Fort Benning, who told them the base was overrun. He mentions that the latest rescue plan they heard about involved trains running to places like Nebraska, but concludes that "The truth is...there is no way outta this mess." The five men converse cordially at first, but the strangers become increasingly impatient when Rick's group will not divulge information about the Greene farm. "We can't stay out there," Dave says. "What do you suggest we do?" "I dunno...I hear Nebraska's nice," Rick replies. "Nebraska," Dave repeats with a bitter laugh. "This guy..." Dave reaches for his gun on the bar, but Rick quickly draws and shoots Dave in the head. Rick then quickly pivots, planting two bullets in Tony's chest before he can train his gun on Rick. Rick then finishes him with a bullet in the head. Everyone stares in shock. "Oh my god…" They looked over to see Annabeth was standing there.


End file.
